Aaron Last/Storm Photos

Guard Loree Moore, who was waived by the Storm last week following arthroscopic surgery on her left knee, remains with the team and is in the early stages of the rehab process that will get her back on the court.

“The doctor’s been saying like 4-6 weeks,” said Moore after a recent Storm practice. “I’ve just been rehabbing since about four days after surgery. I actually was able to walk around when I was done with the surgery. No crutches.”

The league allows Moore to stay with the team for up to eight weeks, and that was the option Moore preferred even though she knew the team would have to waive her to get to its 11-player roster to start the season.

“This is something that I actually wanted to do,” she explained. “I wanted to stay here and rehab and just be around the team. I know the situation, but that was a big deal to me because I like everyone and I like being around everyone. I think that was more important than anything – just to be around the team if I could. It worked out well to be able to rehab with (Athletic trainer) Tom (Spencer).”

Storm Head Coach Brian Agler has called the roster the Storm finalized last week “a starting point,” and Moore could get another look from the team when she gets healthy.

“If she gets an opportunity to get back on the court and shows she can help us, then we’re open,” Agler said last week. “If it doesn’t go that way, then unfortunately we’ll have to move forward.”

Terrence Vaccaro/NBAE/Getty Images

Despite finding out Thursday that she has a tear in the meniscus in her left knee, Seattle Storm guard Loree Moore wasn’t down as she spoke about the injury after watching Friday morning’s practice. Moore is familiar with the arthroscopic surgery that will remove the damaged portion of her meniscus and clean up the area, having undergone a similar procedure before her rookie season with the New York Liberty in 2005.

The cartilage issues may initially stem back to when Moore tore her left ACL during her junior season at the University of Tennessee. Moore knew something wasn’t right with her knee early during Storm training camp, although she wasn’t sure of the severity.

“I kind of felt a little bit during the training camp,” she said, “but I thought it was maybe just achiness. (The MRI) was more a follow-up to make sure everything’s OK. Then, come to find out, it was a slightly torn meniscus, so they just want to scope it out and clean it up, then start the rehabbing process and work to come back.”

Moore described the arthroscopy as, “Something quick and simple.” She missed five weeks after the surgery in 2005, which is a fairly common timetable for cartilage removal, though it can vary significantly depending on the size of the tear in the meniscus. Because of that, a specific timeline for Moore’s return will not be set until after the procedure.

“Once they go in there and see what’s going on,” she explained, “they’ll probably have a better timetable that I can give you.”

The biggest and most frustrating issue for Moore is one of timing – with final rosters due to the WNBA next week, it may be tough for the Storm to keep Moore knowing the team won’t have her services for a few weeks.

“With an 11-player roster, you’ve got have all hands on deck,” Storm Head Coach Brian Agler said Thursday before learning the diagnosis. “It could play into our decision-making.”

“Getting here and being a part of this team, I’m really enjoying the girls, I’m really enjoying the coaching staff and just Seattle itself – it’s a great place to be, great energy, great vibe,” said Moore. “At the same time, I’ve got to get it done, because if it keeps nagging, keeps getting worse, I won’t be able to play the way I want to. So I want to get it out of the way now so I can be here and be healthy and help the way I want to.”

When doing my research on the newest member of the Storm, guard Loree Moore, I discovered something I didn’t know before – her brother is former Mariner Brian Hunter.

Now, die-hard Storm fans may remember the Mariners actually had both Brian Hunters during the 1990s. Moore’s brother is the power-hitting platoon first baseman/left fielder, not the speedy hacktastic outfielder. Hunter played for the Mariners in 1996, when he hit .268/.327/.424 with seven homeruns in 221 at bats. That was part of a nine-year major-league career for Hunter, who most famously played in three World Series as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

Here’s Hunter’s Wikipedia page as well as his career stat line at Baseball-Reference.com.